Use your up-track to safely evaluate the surrounding conditions. Many scary up-tracks were seen through start zones and up the middle of slide paths in the Connaught drainage. Break a new one if the existing trail isn't safe.
Weather Forecast
Mixed bag of weather today; mainly cloudy with some sunny breaks, isolated flurries, light to moderate SW winds, and an alpine high of -8*C. Snow arrives Wednesday, bringing 15-20cm, moderate SW winds, and an alpine high of -6*C. A good dump on Thursday, with 40cm of snow, moderate SW winds, and freezing levels rising to 1200m.
Snowpack Summary
The last storm came in cold but finished warm, producing a heavy slab on low density snow. Temperatures have cooled and this storm slab seems to be adjusting to the old snow surface. The Dec 9 and Nov 21 interfaces are down ~120-180cm, are producing hard/sudden test results, and can be triggered in shallow areas.
Avalanche Summary
A skier triggered sz 3 avalanche from Bruins Ridge nearly swept 2 skiers over cliffs into 8812 Bowl on Sunday. A field team found the avalanche slid on the Nov 21 suncrust, triggered from a shallow area. The crown ranged from 30-150cm in thickness, 40m wide, and 300m in length. Numerous natural slides were observed from Macdonald/Tupper.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.